In the 2017 edition of ESPN’s #NBArank, Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green finished No. 10 on the list — an impressive leap from his No. 334 rank before his rookie campaign in 2012.

Green has never averaged more than 15 points or double-digit rebounds, but his do-it-all skill set has translated into two NBA championships, two All-Star appearances, two All-NBA Team selections, three All-Defensive first-team honors, a Defensive Player of the Year award and an Olympic gold medal.

It’s been quite an illustrious career already for the tweener who was the 35th pick in the draft.

In a Q&A with ESPN, Green discussed what it has taken for him to become a top-10 player in the league, his aspirations for the remainder of his career and his thoughts on Carmelo Anthony’s highly debated place in the rankings.

BJ & Ric Explore What Kobe Bryant’s Mamba Challenge Means

The Mamba Challenge aka #MambaChallenge on Twitter has been future HOFer Kobe Bryant’s way of motivating current NBA players to step their games up in 2017-18. Targeting guys like Giannis Antetokounmpo and John Wall, Kobe seems to have found a new way to get into players’ heads and assert his dominance in the league, even after retirement.

In this video, BJ and Ric discuss what Kobe is doing and why players are responding to it. Even better, BJ shares what Michael Jordan would do to get himself motivated without the need for “challenges” from former players he once admired.

BJ Armstrong Gives A Hilarious Response

Will BJ Armstrong play in the 2018 BIG3 league, is the question. With the 2017 inaugural season success of Ice Cube’s new 3-on-3 basketball league THE BIG3 many retired and former NBA players are contemplating their return to the hardwood in 2018. So, it was only fitting that we explored whether or not we could expect to see our own 3x NBA Champion dusting off his sneakers to test his post-NBA round ball skills.

In what became an instant classic, BJ responds to his BJ & Bucher Podcast co-host Ric Bucher regarding the former Bulls star making a possible appearance in the retired player’s league in 2018; while the show’s producer, Shaine Freeman, gets a good laugh.

1. What Makes A Franchise Player
2. Can Players Make Their Teammates Better
3. How Many True Superstar Players Are There In Today’s NBA
4. What To Make of the Proposed NBA Draft Reform, and more.

We play an interesting outtake from Episode 46 where Ric Bucher sat down with Atlanta Hawks rookie John Collins to discuss how his childhood shaped his ability to adjust to sudden changes in his life & career.

Yet, the former Bulls point guard and Michael Jordan sidekick still looks like he could give a contender meaningful minutes off the bench. It’s been 17 years since Armstrong played his last game in the NBA, but the boy-ish smile and young-at-heart enthusiasm has endured over the years. Rather than setting up teammates on the court, Armstrong is now setting up clients off it, serving as an agent at Wasserman for players like Draymond Green, Derrick Rose and Josh Jackson. It’s easy to see why players are drawn to him. With a delivery that’s half John Calipari, half Denzel Washington fromTraining Day, Armstrong speaks with passion about the business of basketball. And with the rings (three) and seasons (13) to back it up, his words come with a certain weight.

Armstrong broke into the agent business in 2006 after a short stint as a special advisor and scout in the Bulls’ front office. Since then, Armstrong has been using the same skills that made him an effective point guard to become an effective powerbroker in the NBA. He’s helped his clients get drafted, sign contracts and endorsements and navigate the many problems NBA players navigate on a daily basis.

“Crisis management is what I do all day, everyday,” Armstrong said. “When things are going good, I get nervous.”

Armstrong sat down with SI.com earlier this spring to discuss his life as an NBA agent and some of his favorite memories as a player (the name “Michael Jordan” comes up once or twice).

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

On his mantra as an agent:“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. If I could just be an agent, this would be an easy job. But I deal with the people and the problems they have.”

On whether his playing experience helps him as an agent:“It doesn’t that much. You may go to a restaurant the first time because the chef was popular. But you’re only going to come back if the food is good. People might say, ‘Oh, B.J. Armstrong is an agent? I remember him.’ But if the quality of the work isn’t excellent, people aren’t coming back. So I quickly realized that being B.J. Armstrong might have gotten me the meeting, but it won’t help me achieve that I want to achieve in this business.”

On signing Derrick Rose, a fellow point guard from Chicago, out of college:“Even when I got Derrick, that might have helped me get the meeting, but it didn’t help me sign the kid. It became very apparent to me that it got me in the door, but it wasn’t going to keep me there. I learned that the first day on the job. But I also realized that I wish I had someone to talk to that had already been through what I was about to go through. To ask those questions. Or to find out how they dealt with this. So there were a lot of things that I saw as a player that I wish I could have spoken to someone about. I just saw a need and wanted to give people an opportunity to talk to someone as they go through it.”

On if there was a moment as a player when an agent left him wanting more: “It wasn’t that necessarily. Agents do their job and represent their client in the business of basketball. These agents do their job and many of them do their job very well. But the basketball business is a different business. They go over the contract, they make sure their player is protected and that it’s executed. But in the basketball business, that’s totally different. The business of basketball is one thing, the basketball business is another. When I saw that, I decided it was important to help these young people understand the basketball business.”

On who taught him the most about being an agent: “My whole life, I’ve been incredibly lucky. I was very lucky to be in the right place at the right time and play with Michael Jordan. So all of the things people talk about—building their brand, being the best, being a champion—I just happened to have been standing next to the guy who was doing all of these things at the height of his career. I had a front-row seat with no one in front of me. There was no one between me and him as I was watching all of this. It just tickles me to hear all these players saying what they want to do, when I actually saw it happen! Then I hear other people telling people how to do it, but the guy who actually did it was the guy I played with. So, my mentor was my experience. I firmly believe there’s no replacement for experience. No one told me about it, I saw it. I went to the commercial shoots with MJ, I talked to him about why he made that decision or why he chose Gatorade or Hanes or whoever. I can’t have a better teacher than that. I actually saw the guy who executed maybe one of the best marketing campaigns ever.”

On players trying to emulate MJ as a businessman:“I was very lucky and very fortunate to see it and I think I would have a pretty good idea if I see it again. I’ll be able to recognize it. Because it takes a very unique set of circumstances for all of those things to come together, and I give Michael credit, he saw it, and when he saw it he recognized it and more importantly he executed it. He was prepared for the moment clearly, but he was genius in that he recognized the opportunity in front of him in the moment. It was an amazing accomplishment by him and the people around him to help him navigate that situation.

On if he calls Michael Jordan for advice:“It’s funny, when you have a relationship like that, I don’t talk to Michael about business, he’s my friend.‘How you doing, how’s your family, you good?’That’s it. If he needs something, he knows he can call me. So I never mix my friends and my business. He’s my friend, we had great times together, we have a lot of things that we share and we share the most valuable thing we have: our time. So that’s a relationship I want to keep sacred. So I never call and ask for business advice. When I call, it’s for a laugh. I’m sure he has enough problems without me adding to his plate and vice versa. And that’s the great thing, because I know when he does call me, it’s for a laugh. So when he calls or my former teammates call, it just takes me back to a good place.”

On dealing with the Hornets outside of MJ:“I talk to [Horents GM] Rich Cho all the time! We talk business. I like Rich. So the Hornets have always been great to deal with. But it’s always funny, because I know he’s aware of my relationship with Michael. I’ve always wanted to ask this to Rich. Rich is probably wondering: ‘Why don’t you just call Michael?’But no, I’m calling you Rich!”

On his chats with MJ:“We always talk a little trash. At 50, I think I can beat him 1-on-1 now. He had me at 20, but at 50, I think I got him. So I’m waiting on the chance.”

NATHANIEL S. BUTLER/GETTY IMAGES

On if NBA players encounter more problems today than players of his age:“What’s been crazy is the evolution between journalism and social media. And that’s what I’m dealing with. So, I’m a huge proponent and advocate of leadership. Either lead or get out of the way. Problems have existed since the beginning of time. Wherever there’s people, there’s problems. All of these things that are happening now were happening then, minus this [points to his cell phone]. Now people are like, ‘Ahh, this is crazy.’ But it isn’t crazy. It’s: ‘Who has the skillset to deal with these problems?’ Because I’m a huge proponent of leadership, and I take responsibility. How do I deal with knowing every time my client goes out the cameras will be there? I didn’t have to deal with that as a player. I didn’t have to deal with everything I say being out instantly into the world. I didn’t have to deal with that. Same thing athletes are doing today we did, minus phones. So this isn’t crazy. If you have a problem, you should call me. Because that’s what I do. I deal with problems.”

On if he sees himself as a “fixer”:“I just happen to love problems. Because I see problems as opportunities.”

On his goals as he approaches 50:“The one thing I love about this business is you never know what’s going to happen next. This business is constantly changing. What is the goal? The goal is to get these kids to take ownership of what it is they’re doing.”

On if social media is a nightmare for players:“I actually think social media is genius for the players. Social media is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to today’s athlete—if he sees it. You and I, when you were 10, ESPN was a huge machine. When I was coming up, television, if you were on television, WHOA! The Super Bowl was like, WHOA! Did you see the game on television? Did you hear the news on television? My kids, they’re 16, 13, and I’ve got a one-year-old. My kids don’t even watch TV. My 16 and 13 year olds don’t even watch TV. Think about what I just said. You and I couldn’t wait to watch SportsCenter or a sitcom, but my kids don’t even watch TV. That’s how powerful social media is.”

On how being a point guard translates to being an agent:“I grew up as a point guard, and as a point guard you learn how to navigate situations. Without communication, there can be no cooperation. I learned as a guard and a young kid that cooperation is more important than competition. The biggest thing I learned from Michael Jordan, when I met him, was how to communicate with him. Yao Ming was just on my podcast last week, Yao Ming said something that I learned as young kid but never knew how to articulate. I grew up in Detroit but went to a private Catholic school in the suburbs. I was living in two different worlds: the city of Detroit and the school where there were 5,000 kids and there were one or two people of color in the entire school. There was this world, and that world. Yao Ming said on my show that the first three years of your life, you learn how to talk. The rest of your life, you learn how to listen.

When I went to school out here, I had to learn how to listen to people because they didn’t know me and I didn’t know them. So it forced me to understand how to communicate with people, which ultimately helped me as a player. This is how Scottie Pippen communicates, or Bill Cartwright. So I always thought I was like a Vegas card dealer. I shuffle the cards, I go pass, pass, pass, shot for B.J. Pass, pass, pass, shot for BJ. Sometimes I’d skip me! Sometimes other people would need an extra card because he’s struggling. When I went to college I learned how to navigate these worlds. Once I saw that, I learned the kids that grew up in the north were different than the kids who grew up in the south. Once I figured that out I learned how to cooperate which ultimately has helped me in every thing. I learned what unity and cooperation can do. Everyone talks about competing. But it’s only when you learn how to cooperate and learn what a team is all about. There’s been a lot of teams with great individual players, there’s going to be a game played with a lot of individual players, but it’s the only the players that are going to surrender to the team that are going to win the game.

On watching MJ learn those same lessons:“It took him eight years to figure it out. He didn’t win a championship in year one. It takes time for everyone. Everyone is on their path. But once he did figure it out, and because he was a massive talent, he went on to great things.”

On his favorite MJ story:“My favorite MJ story came when he retired the first time. We probably spoke more then than when we actually played together. I always wondered, ‘Why does he still care who the best player in the NBA is when he wasn’t even playing in the NBA?’ Why am I still going over scouting reports with Michael Jordan and he doesn’t even play anymore? Why was he still asking me: ‘B.J., make this guy go left tomorrow night and see what he’s going to do and tell me what he does.’ Why was he still involved in the details of the game to that level? And I miss that because we were discussing details. ‘Tell me what happens if you go under a screen on him. Will he shoot or pass? B.J. go double-team him tomorrow and tell me how he reacts.’ I miss that. I don’t miss playing, I don’t miss scoring, but I miss these conversations. His level of detail and excellence was so high. When he retired, his attention to detail was even more superior because he was able to just observe the game. He was watching basketball and just looking at it. And then when he did come back, he didn’t miss a beat because he was already engaged mentally. His attention to detail was far superior than anything I was around—and I was still playing the game! He was asking me for scouting reports! You don’t have a skill like that and just shut it off. That’s something that belongs in the universe. It’s not yours. Who cares how someone passes the ball out of a double team? Unless you’re so obsessed with something.Did he cut? Did he stand? What did he do?Who the f— asks those questions?”

Newly drafted Atlanta Hawks rookie John Collins stops by to discuss his journey from Army brat to becoming the 19th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, and more. Also joining us is Goldman Sachs investment advisor Terance Takyi to offer NBA players some sound financial advice. In addition, BJ & Ric cover these NBA hot topics:

Q1 – Around The League (Did You Hear?)

The #MambaChallenge:Our hosts discuss Kobe Bryant’s recent challenges to young NBA players via social media. BJ goes on a classic, yet hilarious, tirade about who the true NBA MVP should be.

In this hilarious battle for NBA knowledge supremacy, Ric and BJ go head-to-head in a battle of who remembers the most about arguably the best NBA Draft ever. The big question is … can one of our hosts break the currently running tie?

He often plays chess online against random people who have no idea that their king is being attacked by the 2011 NBA MVP. He was a decent tennis and baseball player in high school. He’s spent a good amount of time this summer studying the life of Albert Einstein. He watches documentaries.

Most people don’t know these things. Rose doesn’t care if people know these things.

Here’s what Rose hopes people know, or at least soon know: He believes he’s still among the NBA elite. So for Rose, this season alongside LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers is a reset, maybe a redemption, maybe even a reinvention. He made $21 million last season; he’ll make about $2 million this season after signing for the minimum , even after averaging 18 points with the dysfunctional New York Knicks a year ago.

Now — recovered from a fourth knee surgery — Rose is set to start anew and resume chasing what would be his first NBA title.

“I’ve always been into movies,” Rose said. “And I’ve always asked why you don’t see famous actors all the time. Why don’t you see George Clooney? For real, why don’t you see him? It always comes back to how they don’t want the fame. So when I got into the NBA, I never wanted to tap into that.

“Personally, that’s just not me.”

In an interview with The Associated Press about his offseason and his future, Rose said he believes he’s misunderstood by many, but realized long ago that he’s not interested in changing those misconceptions.

“I’m stubborn,” Rose said. “I like moving at my own pace. So as long as I’m not harming anybody, I feel like I’ve got the right to do that. People think that I’m cocky, reckless, unruly. That’s not me. That’s not who I portray myself as. But it’s not up to me to care or worry about that. My family and friends know the person that I really am.”

Rose is a self-described introvert, someone who rarely posts on social media. He does his own thing, without apologies. He arrives in China this week to promote his latest adidas shoe, is hopeful to have a place to live in Cleveland picked out by the time he gets back to the U.S. from that trip, and has been so busy this summer with on-court work that there’s been little time for much else — not even a haircut or shave, both of which he thinks are desperately needed.

“I’m not going to lie to you; the last two or three years, Derrick has been through a lot mentally,” said his older brother, Reggie Rose. “When you’re losing more than you’re winning, it can get difficult. So with him going to be in a winning environment again now, able to see how LeBron prepares himself, the things LeBron does with his body, Derrick can incorporate that into his own game.”

Rose is past his latest surgery, one that repaired his meniscus and, probably mercifully, ended his season with the Knicks. He isn’t worried about how the now-tenuous trade between Boston and Cleveland with the principals being star point guards Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas works out; Rose is willing to play with either one.

Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman said when signing the 6-foot-2 Rose that he would be a good fit. Altman added he knew Rose could have signed with a number of teams, but he signed with Cleveland because of “his specific mindset, goals and total focus and commitment to winning.”

Rose, 28, has no doubt he’ll be ready for the season.

He has been working out at least five days a week, strength work some days, agility work other days, along with on-court work.

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Last year fuels him, in many ways. It started with him facing a civil trial in Los Angeles over a rape allegation that a jury did not believe. It ended with him playing for a bad team in New York, the Knicks season dominated by drama off the floor — the Jim Dolan-Charles Oakley mess, the eventual departure of Phil Jackson and the still-going talk of Carmelo Anthony getting traded someplace.

“On the court was when it was the craziest to me,” Rose said. “Some of the strategies and all that, I didn’t understand. It was confusing. It was just a learning experience.”

Rose’s rise was meteoric: Grew up amid poverty in Chicago, then saw basketball as an escape route and way to take care of his mother and family. In 2006, he hit a shot to win an Illinois state high school championship. Only five years later, he was MVP of the NBA.

Then came the injuries: the ACL tear in 2012 and three meniscus surgeries since, along with back, hamstring, ankle and foot issues as well. Out of a possible 164 games in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons, Rose appeared in 10. The love affair in Chicago between a native son and the Bulls was clearly waning. He finally got traded to New York in June 2016.

The lowest of the low points in Chicago, on the injury front, may have been when he made the statement about how he didn’t want to be sore at his son’s graduation. He doesn’t regret saying it, or the fallout that it caused.

What Rose was trying to do was illustrate how being active in his son’s life matters to him. It just came out less than perfectly, and he believes the message got twisted.

“He’s the only reason that I’m playing this game,” Rose said of his son. “My dad wasn’t around. So my mom was that figure for me. I want to be the example to my son, the dad that I didn’t have. He’s going to do what he wants to do, but sometimes he’s going to be like, ‘Damn, Pops was right all these times.’ It’s going to hit him one day.”

Thing is, Derrick Rose’s son will never grow up poor like the way Derrick Rose did. His father has earned somewhere around $300 million in contracts and endorsements.

“He gets joy just being around immediate family and reminiscing about how things used to be financially before now,” Reggie Rose said. “You can see the glow in his face when he talks about the old times.”

He gets the same glow when he talks about what’s coming next.

Rose knows people doubt whether he can still play. He doesn’t share those doubts. And though he won’t say so, he wouldn’t mind proving some wrong.

“When I get on a good team and I’m still hooping the same way, what are you going to say then?” Rose said. “The only thing that you can say is that I can still play.”

This episode we are joined by the President of The Big3 basketball league, Roger Mason Jr, to discuss their inaugural season, his hopes for the league’s future, his perspective on the recent Charlottesville, VA tragedy as a UVA alum, and more. ALSO, our hosts share their insider knowledge on the following NBA hot topics:

Q1 – Around The League (Did You Hear?)

Dan Gilbert, LeBron James, and Donald Trump:Anyone who has been paying attention knows that LeBron James is vehemently against Donald Trump’s presidency. But, after it was revealed that Cavs owner, Dan Gilbert, is a huge donor and supporter of #45, Ric Bucher asks BJ if this could affect LBJ’s final decision to leave or stay in “The Land.”

After Kyrie Irving announced that he was ready to be traded away from the Cavs, swarms of speculation (and media coerced drama) took the basketball world by storm. Here, BJ and Ric Bucher explore some of the reasons why LeBron James and Kyrie Irving could not co-exist like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen did in Chicago.

Q3 – NBA Knowledge Bowl: ROOKIE OF THE YEAR VOTING FACTS

In this hilarious battle for NBA knowledge supremacy, Ric and BJ go head-to-head in a battle of who remembers the most about some of the league’s top rookies. The big question is … can BJ stop Ric’s ongoing winning streak?

Newly crowned Knicks GM Scott Perry stops by to discuss the future of New York’s beloved franchise and what it will take to turn the Knicks around, what it means to be part of the first NBA front office led by an all black executive team, and more. ALSO, our hosts share their experienced insights on the following NBA hot topics:

Q1 – Around The League (News)

Derrick Rose’s Contract:As D Rose’s agent, BJ addresses the guard’s trade to Cleveland and why he only got $2 Million to play in The Land.

Is Carmelo Anthony Houston’s Answer: Our hosts break down whether or not a Houston Rockets team with Carmelo Anthony is a championship contender.

Q2 – NBA Madness: KYRIE & LEBRON vs. JORDAN & PIPPEN

After Kyrie Irving announced that he was ready to be traded away from the Cavs, swarms of speculation (and media coerced drama) took the basketball world by storm. Here, BJ and Ric Bucher explore some of the reasons why LeBron James and Kyrie Irving could not co-exist like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen did in Chicago.

HALFTIME MUSIC BREAK: ICE CUBE ~ It Was A Good Day

Q3 – NBA Knowledge Bowl: LEGENDARY TRADES

In this hilarious battle for NBA knowledge supremacy, Ric and BJ go head-to-head in a battle of who remembers the most about some of the league’s most epic trades. The big question is … can BJ stop Ric’s ongoing winning streak?

INTERVIEW GUEST: New York Knicks GM- SCOTT PERRY

In this exclusive interview Ric Bucher talks with new Knicks General Manager Scott Perry about a number of things including:

What it will take to turn the Knicks organization around after Phil Jackson’s exit

How he feels about being part of one of the first ever NBA front offices led by an all black executive team, and more…